Dear Facebook "Friends"

This might seem like a strange thing to see on your feeds, but for the time being - and for a while yet - I am staying off and away from Facebook. I'm not quitting it, I'm not spitting my dummy out, I'm not throwing my toys out the pram...

But after this weekend, seeing the things quite a few of you have been posting, I just can't bear to scroll through my news feed and see what random nasty shit I'm going to see one of you sharing next.

So, Paris. The shit that went down there on Friday was horrendously awful. I don't know what it was about the attacks there - and, let's be honest, everywhere ELSE in the world on the same day - but it shook my faith in the world a little more than usual. It left me wondering at the state of our planet, and for some odd reason, I thought maybe my friends would be able to make me smile and pick me up.

And, for the most part, my friends restored a little of my faith in humanity. Only for a few of you to kick it back over.

Some of the nasty, racist, horrible things I've seen shared this weekend have me wondering how well I actually know some of my "friends", and as a status update alluded to on Saturday, how some of you managed to hijack the events in Paris and use them for your own agenda.

For starters, the religious bullshit some people were spouting was horrific. It's a well know, well documented fact that I am not religious. Not even a little bit. I've had my run-ins with some crazy religious sorts, but never have I outwardly slammed someone's religion. But the anti-Muslim crap some people were spouting... Just... Wow. Clearly, I am friends with some really intolerant people.

Blaming a whole religion for a minority of terrible people is akin to blaming all Americans for gun crime.

I'm not going to name the terror group responsible for these atrocities, I refuse to give them ANY space on my blog, but when people blame an entire religion for the actions of a few - congratulations, you're just backing up their agenda, and proving to other Muslims that their crazy point of views are correct, that the West hates them all.

Do a bit of research folks. You'll see that in the last two years, That Group have killed something like a quarter of a million Muslims across the Middle East. And yet, clearly, according to some of you, all Muslims are to blame.

Next, the people that somehow swung the situation to problems with immigration. Those of you that posted things like "when you take in all the immigrants, this is what you get" seriously need to take stock of your screwed up view of the world. Yes, amongst those poor, terrified, fleeing victims, there may well be some rotten apples. But that doesn't justify ignoring the entire situation. These people are fleeing the SAME asshats that are to blame for these acts. Having complete and utter cocks like Trump using Friday nights attacks as proof that he's the man for the job, and his wall is needed, and all the rest of his shit...

Seriously, the guy is a fucking tool. Hey Americans, you're almost all grown from the roots of immigrants! You're listening to a dick with shit hair, one that sells hotels and appears on shit TV, and are considering voting him in as your leader! Get a grip!

I'm tired and pissed off. Sue me.

Back to my point on immigrants. There were people pointing out and screaming "told you so!" on Friday night, that letting in the Syrian refugees (because that's what they are, refugees. Honestly, look up the difference between Refugee and Immigrant) would cause terror attacks... The people they're looking for in France? Oh wait, yes, all settled in Europe for years. Good call twats.

On top of all this, I've seen people in the States pointing out that these attacks are the reason to be pro guns. Seriously, events half a world away do not have any bearing on whether or not you get to carry your gun around. Stop banging on your drum.

And the racist angle has been thrown out there this weekend too... Some of you have gone from blaming an entire religion, to blaming an entire race. Good job!

I honestly saw some of the things being shared this weekend, and I couldn't believe what I was looking at. It was bad enough so much shit happened in the world this weekend. It's made worse by the fact that so much shit happens on a regular basis. But the part that is really hard for me to swallow, is the part that a lot of what I have been reading has been hate, racism, anti-religious crap, and people using these events to put across their point of view.

And you know what will happen if these people are pulled up on their shit? "Oh it's freedom of speech, it's my point of view, you don't have to like it" or similar crap.

And you know what, that's fine. Just as it's fine that I have vented what I think. Don't like it? Think I'm a sap? Guess what... Tough shit. Freedom. Of. Speech.

Incidentally, something that a lot of people around the world don't have. Something a certain terror group want to quash.

The longer certain people in the world carry on pressing the "Them and Us" point of view, the longer shit will carry on happening. I don't care if it's a man running for president, or a housewife in a small town - posting and sharing horrible shit is damaging.

So, I will not be on Facebook for a while. I've logged out of it across all devices so I can't see what's happening, don't get updates or notifications... But when I do decide to come back, I will be clearing out my friends list. I'm all for freedom of speech, but for some people to use that freedom to spread shitty crap and use horrible events for their own agenda...

It's just wrong. All I can do is hope that the world my kids end up with, is a world of more tolerant people.

About Me!

Welcome!

Welcome to 0ddness!

For the newcomers amongst you, this blog is one of my little corners of the web where I generally spout rubbish, rant and rave about minor things, share music I love (and can't stand) and generally put the world to rights from my little corner of the web. I might talk about something I've watched, my family, my aches and pains, an upcoming movie, the news... and then switch to the weather, the crazy idiot I met in the street and the speed of a cat when running for its life.

You don't have to agree with what I say or think, you just have to be polite in your discussion!

Aside from posting here (I would say on a regular basis, but it's mood/brain dependant of late) I also post photos on-and-off on my Tumblr page. There is literally nothing but photos I've taken via Instagram on there, and I am by no means artistic - I just like some of the pictures I take.

You can also visit my Last.fm page to see what I've been listening to while banging around the house. If you think the Musical Monday section is a very random mix of tracks, you ain't seen nothin' yet!!

And if you have eyes, you will also see that you can find me on Facebook (as well as the blog having its own page) and I randomly appear on Twitter just to moan or whatever.

Lastly, a common question I get is "How do I comment on your posts?" On the top of each post, there is a little speech-bubble icon with a number beside it. Click that number to enter "Comments" and away you go!

My Tumblr

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All content is copyrighted by me, Dan English, from whichever date I started this blog, up to and including everything before then.And heck, I'll copyright anything I might do from now on. It's all mine.Don't steal it - please - or else I'll send out the ninja raccoons to attack your genitals.